The Element of Surprise
by paynesgrey
Summary: Shippou thinks he can teach Rin a lesson during her sword training, but things don't turn out the way he planned. Rin x Shippou Futurefic.


AN: Written for the "Awe" theme at inuyashaETAL at Livejournal. Inspired by a fanart of older Rin and older Shippou that I did awhile ago. Enjoy! This is a oneshot and will not be continued.

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The Element of Surprise

Artfully, Rin sliced her sword through the air, practicing her fine craft at a quiet clearing. Shippou watched her from a high tree branch, fascinated by her graceful moves and strict concentration. He grinned inwardly. She learned from the best, after all.

She put her sword back into the sheath, kneeling on the ground and closing her eyes. Suddenly, the sounds of the forest heightened as he was tuned in with her senses. A light breeze caressed his cheeks, and he heard her move, drawing out her sword again and slicing a fallen leaf in half.

As he crouched down, Shippou awed at Rin as she energized, making stark and precise slashes through the air once again.

He smirked. He wondered just how sharp her senses really were.

Clutching his smoke pellets, he almost guilty for his inevitable trickery, but this was how he fought, and he just wanted to make her training interesting.

Quickly, he threw a smoke pellet toward her. He saw her body tense, and her head snapped around to study her surroundings. He grabbed his stick at his side, wrapped in an enchantment scroll, and he bounced down to the ground before the smoke cleared. Rin had her sword ready, and she was squinting through the smoke, fighting the tears from intense smell.

"Who's there?" she demanded, whipping around to the slightest sound as his feet met the ground. He heard his familiar pop of fox magic, and he attacked. Rin reacted quickly, shielding the blow from his enchanted sword (his once trite magic stick), and she glared at him when the smoke cleared.

"Shippou-chan!" she barked, pushing him back a few steps with her force. He was amazed how strong she was, but he told himself he'd _let_ her push him.

He smirked at her. "Hey there, Rin-chan. How's your training?" She looked exasperated, and she rolled her eyes at him.

"I'm not playing around, if that's what you think," she said fiercely. For a girl who had grown up so tough, she still had that soft, sweet voice that he adored when she was a child. Getting her to yell in that cute, feminine voice was just as alluring.

"I would never think that," he said, tilting his sword, and meeting her defensive slash again. His magic sword burned teal from his fox fire against her metal blade; however, the sensationalism of his magic did not impress her.

They met blade to enchanted stick, turning, pivoting, and sashaying together inside a warrior's dance. Rin was strong, but he met her every move almost evenly, and the more she pushed him back and resisted his magic, the more his feelings intensified.

If they kept this match up any longer, he'd have to act upon these intense hormones. It was no secret he grew up more than interested in Sesshoumaru's precocious ward.

"Stop this trickery!" she shot at him with a tone that mimicked the steeliness of her surrogate father.

She was getting increasingly aggravated with him as he attempted to sway her attention with distractions of smaller, foul smelling pellets going off around them. He knew spreading them around before he reached the ground had been a good idea.

"Now, Rin, you have to be ready for anything in battle. Illusions and magic can trip you up just as much as the strongest villain with the longest blade," he lectured her, and she pouted with annoyance.

"I _know_ this," she said, slashing him back a little harder than the times before. His eyes widened, and she seemed to be getting nastier, yet less focused. 'Tsk, tsk,' he thought, and when he spun around and avoided another stern slash, he dropped another smoke pellet, taking her off guard as he popped out of her view. When he reappeared in front of her eyes, her jaw dropped, and he leaned in only inches from her face.

He could feel her gasp against his skin.

"It's all about the element of surprise," he said, ready to push her back onto her bottom and make her submit. Before he could lay a hand on her, he cocked his head at her curious yet challenging expression, and he wavered.

"Oh, it is?" she said, leaning in closer to him. Wasn't she supposed to resist his blow? He was not prepared for this…

He was not prepared for her soft, delicious lips taking in his.

He made a noise of surprise as her tongue snaked past his lips. She tasted like berries, and he wanted to devour more of her. Though, before he could whisk her away in his arms and make a woman out of her, he felt the hilt of her sword on his chest, and she pushed them apart.

Now _he_ was the one on his bottom, and she masterfully turned his strategy against him. The tip of her blade pointed at his nose as she stood over him.

"I believe _that_ is the element of surprise," she said to him, looking smug.

Shippou, who was still reeling from that unexpected kiss, nodded his head dumbly in agreement. "It is." He coughed, feeling embarrassment rise to his cheeks. He was grateful, however, that Rin had put her sword back into the sheath. She stared at him with a twinkle in her eye.

"You are right, Shippou, that I need to be prepared for everything, even tanuki and kitsune magic, however silly it is," she said, smirking at him. 'Ow, he thought. That last quip hadn't been necessary.

"And as for the element of surprise," she said, holding her hands behind her back and swaying on her heels childishly, "Sometimes there's always more than one." She looked behind him and waved jubiliantly. "Hi, Sesshoumaru-sama!"

Shippou's blood froze. His nerves tied and knots and for a moment, he thought he was going to die. 'How did he not sense him? Did he see the kiss?' Oh yes, he was going to die.

Nervously he glanced over his shoulder only to see no one there. Rin burst out in a fit of giggles.

"You should have seen the look on your face, Shippou-chan!" She clutched her stomach from her laughter.

Shippou narrowed his eyes at her. He was beginning to dislike getting bested by her, not only once but also twice. He pursed his lips and rose from the ground. He marched over to the giggling girl and grabbed her shoulders. Rin paused, her laughter dying away as she met his expression.

"I don't think the lesson is over," he purred seductively, smashing his lips against hers. She moaned in surprise, and soon gave into him, relaxing to his touch. He snaked his arms around her and embraced her, kissing her fervently and teasing her tongue.

He broke away slowly, watching her reaction. "Shippou-chan," she whispered, with a flushed face and entranced eyes. He could hear her heart beat quicken in her chest. "I never thought…"

He hushed her and drew her in for another long, tender kiss. Something must have startled her because she suddenly broke away and looked over her shoulder with surprise. Her once flushed face had paled.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" she chirped.

Shippou laughed. He wasn't going to fall for that again. "Come on, now, Rin-chan. Aren't we done with the games?" He leaned in and traced a finger down the collar of her kimono. "Unless you have some different games in mind?"

And then one word completely shattered his excitement.

"Rin." It was cold and it cut through his ears like a knife, and he never imagined Rin's name would be as scary as it was now.

Sesshoumaru was behind him now, and whatever feeling he had the first time she fooled him, it didn't compare to the horror he was feeling now.

Rin looked at him sympathetically, and he was too scared to look in Sesshoumaru's face. So he turned around, kept his eyes closed and smiled sheepishly at the Taiyoukai. He bowed quickly, and he thanked the gods for one last smoke pellet in his pocket.

With the smoke as his cover, he hurried away and shouted to Rin. "I'll see you later, Rin-chan!" When he was in the clear, he felt numb that he'd actually survived that encounter and felt a sense of disappointment that Sesshoumaru had interrupted such a delicious spar.

He just wasn't stupid enough to stick around for whatever lesson Sesshoumaru wanted to teach _him_ for kissing his ward. He was quite sure it would involve a sword, or his boot, or his poison whip, or all of the above.

He shuddered to think about it, and concentrated on happier thoughts. Yet, that kiss from Rin was definitely worth any punishment, of that he was sure.

END


End file.
